KARACHI: The Supreme Court-mandated commission on water and sanitation in Sindh on Saturday issued warrants against the owners of two industrial units after they refused to receive notices.

The commission, headed by retired Justice Amir Hani Muslim, issued bailable warrants in the sum of Rs15,000 each against the owners of two firms — M/s Golden Pearl and M/s Artistic Millinior — for Jan 4 after the Shah Latif Town SHO informed it that they refused to receive the notices issued by the commission.

It also directed the director general of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) to interact with the associations of the industries for compliance of the directives issued by the commission.

Earlier, the commission had issued notices to a number of industries, located in district Malir, after they denied access to Sepa officials for inspection/surprise visits.

Sepa gets one more week to file report on installation of effluent treatment plants

Meanwhile, the commission granted one more week to Sepa after it sought time to complete codal formalities regarding installation of effluent treatment plants in sugar mills and distilleries across the province.

It also directed Sepa to finalise the formalities and come up with a detailed report on Jan 4.

The commission was informed that the industries had processed their cases for installation of the treatment plants through a firm, the Technology Provider, and they would complete the assignment within the timeline agreed between the parties.

However, the commission warned that any non-compliance on part of the firm would not exonerate the industries from consequences.

In August, the commission had ordered an official of the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources for inspection of all sugar mills and distilleries across the province in order to suggest installation of treatment plants for treating effluent. It was also asked to hand over the inspection report to Sepa to finalise it.

The matter regarding installation of flow metres on water pipelines in the provincial capital was adjourned till Dec 31 on the request of the managing director of the Karachi Sewerage and Water Board.

Non-installation of filter plants in Kashmore

The commission summoned a contracting firm for Jan 4 for non-installation of ultra-filtration plants in Kashmore and directed the SSP concerned to ensure the attendance of the firm’s owner at the next hearing.

The project director informed the commission that the contracting company was paid in advance, but it failed to install a number of ultra-filtration plants.

The commission also issued notice to a former project director and other officials concerned, asking them to ensure their presence at the next hearing.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2018